Durban, South Africa - any tips?

xueta

Hi,

Anyone got any advice for flights, accommodation and things to do in Durban?
Only got a few days around the Comrades ultra-marathon on 16th June 2006, so would like to cram in a few sights!

Thanks in advance,
:beer:

Party_Animal

We drove north from Durban upto the Natal Sharks Board at Umhlanga. It was very interesting. I believe its the only one of its kind.
https://www.shark.co.za

xueta

Party_Animal wrote:

We drove north from Durban upto the Natal Sharks Board at Umhlanga. It was very interesting. I believe its the only one of its kind.
https://www.shark.co.za

Great site!! Almost signed up for the 'Annual Sardine Run' too! lol

Mr_Meldrew

Do try and stay in Umhlanga Rocks. Hotels and nightlife are very good and safer than Durban at night if you don’t know your way around.

http://www.sa-venues.com/kzn/ lists a lot of hotel/guest houses/B&Bs in KZN.

If you have the time, try a trip out to the Valley of a Thousand Hills (west of Durban – clearly signposted towards Pinetown). Lots to see – all signposted.

I agree that the Sharks Board is well worth a visit (I lived for 12 years two minutes walk away). If you are sports minded and Natal Sharks (Rugby Union) are playing at home, you will not have witnessed anything like it! It is a whole day out, even ‘though the match is only 80 minutes. Instant parties are the order of the day in the surrounding sports (parking) fields. You should buy your tickets and get there for about 11 am and be prepared to leave around midnight – the locals are really friendly! It has been known for more people to be at the after-party than at the match (regular 30,000+ crowds and a magnificent stadium)

Remember that it is mid-winter and can get chilly at night – temperatures have been known to go down to 12 c!!

I will try and think of some more suggestions and re-post

xueta

Thanks for all the hints; this is really very helpful!

No Sharks fixtures mid-June unfortunately, as South Africa vs Scotland is scheduled for that time. Pity - the parties sound awesome.

I'll have a read of the sites recommended over the weekend...

Keep those suggestions coming! :T

Party_Animal

Just realised its 6 years since I was there. I drove from Cape Town via the Garden Route Transvaal, Port St John and Port Edward. Arrived Durban Xmas Eve, went down the beach Xmas day then had a barbie by the pool. Didn't see much of Durban, spent 4 days at Kingsmead, one at Sharks Board etc and flew to Cape Town for the Millennium. Spent Millennium eve on Table Mountain, before taking in the Millennium test at Newlands. Oh what memories........

Barry72

Hi, we are going back to Durban at Easter for 3 weeks flying with Air France and coming home on KLM. Air France has always been the cheapest that we have found but there is a very short change over on the flight to Edinburgh coming home and with them merging we decided to try KLM for the return leg. I would also look at Emirates and if you get a good price try them as they seem to have more leg room and certainly better in flight entertainment, we payed £1126 for 2 return flights. We booked with https://www.ebookers.com and they can give you a quote for Emirates to Durban unlike the Emirates site although you can email them for a quote.

For things to do there are plenty, for a game reserve try Tala about an hour drive from Durban https://www.tala.co.za/ but if you have spare time then make the trip to Umfolozi/Hluhluwe which is around 3 hours drive and would need atleast 2 nights details for there and many other places like the fantastic mountain retreats can be found here https://www.kznwildlife.com/. Down the south coast you could try Crocworld https://www.crocworld.co.za/.

In Durban itself you have the new aquarium which is fantastic and a must see https://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za/ also the Umgeni bird park which I did not fancy but really enjoyed http://www.whattodo.co.za/umgenibird/. For some shopping try Gateway http://www.gatewayworld.co.za/default.asp which is the largest shopping mall in Africa complete with wave machine for surfing. For food you must go to a Spur restaurant and try a lunch at Thirsty's at the harbour entrance.

Feel free to ask any more questions or give an idea of what your looking for for some more advice.

Barry.

PeteMc

Don't leave the hotel ! Seriously though, it was a bit hairy in the centre of Durban when I was there 4 years ago. An older chap came into the hotel on Saturday morning having just been relieved of his wallet for the 3rd time in 2 years. He was just pushed over on the main street whilst the robbers just helped themselves. If you follow the usual security warnings, probably as you would in the UK, you should be OK.

Try to see the part of the coast where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean, sorry can't remember the resort. There really is a difference in the water temperature.

Also don't leave without sampling the curry sandwich. Absolutely delicious, I'm sure someone will come along who remembers the SA name for it.

Barry72

Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean by Cape Town which is a long way from Durban but well worth visiting if you get the chance, as for the curry sandwich could that be a bunnie chow?

mystic_trev

Mr_Meldrew wrote:

Do try and stay in Umhlanga Rocks. Hotels and nightlife are very good and safer than Durban at night if you don’t know your way around.
[

I agree that Umhlanga Roacks is probably the best place to stay. Durban (the City) is a bit of a muggers paradise. Don't walk alone and don't walk anywhere at night. These guys don't mess around. One of their tactics is to attack your clothing with a stanley knife to extract all your valubles - they don't even bother with asking you to hand them over!

PeteMc

Barry72 wrote:

Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean by Cape Town which is a long way from Durban but well worth visiting if you get the chance, as for the curry sandwich could that be a bunnie chow?

Indeed, on the same trip we did Jo'burg, Pretoria, Durban, Swaziland, Capetown and back to Jo'burg. So memory loss did get the better of me!

Bunnie Chow that's the one! Delicious though watch out for bones in the meat.